Student Ombudsman Office

Message

From the Student Ombudsman Office

I thank the students of the Politécnico de Leiria for the trust they have placed in me by electing me as Student Ombudsman.

On 6 July 2016, you conferred upon me the position in which I propose to repay your trust, as I had occasion to say in the speech I made then.

I will try to perform a proactive ombudsman role that will eventually require the study of general problems affecting students and the assessment of the possibility of contributing to their resolution. For this to be possible I count on you in the certainty that, although my main function is the defence of the rights, freedoms, guarantees and legitimate interests of students, it will have to be ensured through informal means, because in the last instance it is the instituted powers that can deliberate.

Pedro de Matos Gonçalves

Politécnico de Leiria

Students’ Unions

João Paredes
ESECS Students’ Union President

The Ombudsman of the Polytechnic of Leiria aims to protect students, having as principles the defense of their rights and support in the fulfillment of their duties. This body acts to meet the needs of students, giving special support in the mediation of any type of conflict. The Student Ombudsman therefore plays a fundamental role with regard to academic coexistence, promoting the well-being of students internally and externally.

The role of the Student Ombudsman is defined by Higher Education Institutions Legal Regime (Lei n. º 62/2007), in its article n. º 25, which provides for its relationship with Student Associations and all other services of the institution.

Professor Pedro Gonçalves has served as Student Ombudsman with great attention and proximity to students, addressing all their complaints with respect for anonymity and defending a more equitable and efficient education system. The Student’s Union Association of ESTG endorses and supports all his initiatives in the continuous search for the improvement of our Polytechnic Institute of Leiria.

In this way, students have the possibility of appealing to the Student Ombudsman to present complaints or suggestions about pedagogical, academic, social action, or other matters related to the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria and its Schools. They can do it with the guarantee that the Student Ombudsman will make recommendations for resolving conflicts and improving the context of student life, even in situations that seem unachievable.

Anita Heitor
ESTG Students’ Union President

Cíntia Moreira
ESAD.CR Students’ Union President

The Ombudsman of the Polytechnic of Leiria aims to protect students, having as principles the defense of their rights and support in the fulfillment of their duties.

This body acts to meet the needs of students, giving special support in the mediation of any type of conflict. The Student Ombudsman therefore plays a fundamental role with regard to academic coexistence, promoting the well-being of students internally and externally.

The Student Ombudsman, according to the Polytechnic University of Leiria’ s regulations, is the entity that aims to protect, analyze, defend and attend the rights of students. The Ombudsman is the source of communication between students and the institution.

The Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar counts on professor Pedro de Matos Gonçalves, elected as provider, as someone capable of enabling a fair system, providing support and conditions for better inclusion in our academic community, performing these functions to a high degree of professionalism and concern for the student. We would like to thank him enormously for his availability and commitment to his mission.

Patrícia Melo
ESTM Students’ Union President

Francisca Lourenço
ESSlei Students’ Union President

According to the Regulations of the Polytechnic University of Leiria, students are responsible for electing the Student Ombudsman to carry out their functions. Thus, the Student Ombudsman assumes himself as an independent and impartial element within the academic community of the Polytechnic of Leiria. Its mission is to analyze, monitor and respond to questions raised by our students, both individually and collectively, with the aim of providing the necessary information to prevent, safeguard and promote consensus in resolving student complaints and concerns.

In our institution we can count on Professor Pedro de Matos Gonçalves as Ombudsman, who, in cooperation with the Student Associations of all Higher Schools of the Polytechnic University of Leiria, seeks to improve the operating conditions of the entire academic community.

The Student Association of the Escola Superior de Saúde de Leiria remains committed to collaborating with the work carried out by the Ombudsman, expressing our gratitude for his commitment and support in resolving all types of student problems.

politécnico de leiria

Student Ombudsman

The person students can count on.

pedro de matos gonçalves

Student Ombudsman

Mission

At Politécnico de Leiria, there is a set of departments and people available to welcome and help students, whenever they need: teachers, the course coordinator, the Pedagogical Council, the Students’ Union, among others.

In cooperation with these entities, the Student Ombudsman is an independent and elected by students governing body. It is responsible for evaluating the students’ complaints and, according to their evaluation, make pertinent observations to the competent departments, as well as making generic recommendations with a view to safeguarding their interests, especially in the field of pedagogical activity and school social action.

students ombudsman

What we do

The Ombudsman’s activities are carried out together with the schools’ pedagogical councils, the Student Support Services and the students’ unions, according to the law.
It is the Obudsman’s duty to consider students’ complaints on pedagogical issues and connected administrative matters, as well as on other aspects of their academic lives, and to issue the adequate recommendations for the prevention and solution of the verified situations to the competent bodies of Politécnico de Leiria.

Student Ombudsman

FAQs

You can book an appointment to meet us in person, at the Politécnico de Leiria’s headquarters, at Rua General Norton de Matos, in Leiria.

You can also get in touch by email (provedor.estudante@ipleiria.pt) or by phone: (+351) 244 830 018.

The Ombudsman cannot guarantee a solution for each exposure as it is not an executive body. He assures, however, that all the matters will be carefully analysed, with independence and discretion, developing all the efforts so that the rights of the students of the Politécnico de Leiria are respected and so that their relationship with the different bodies/services is fair.

The Student Ombudsman plays an eminently interdisciplinary role, acting as a mediator in relations between students and the formal bodies of the Politécnico de Leiria and the Schools, in seeking the concrete resolution of problems and conflicts that are not overcome at other levels and once the other institutional mechanisms have been exhausted.

The Ombudsman develops its action in articulation with the Student Associations and with the bodies and services of the Institute, namely with the Pedagogical Councils, as well as with its Schools and other organic units.

Absolutely.

The duty of confidentiality is extended to all those whom the Student Ombudsman requests to collaborate or who have any kind of intervention in the process.

In addition to the duty of confidentiality, the complainant may choose, when submitting the complaint or claim, to request that his or her data be treated with absolute confidentiality and not be disclosed in the course of the investigation of the case. In this case, the data will only be known within the scope of the Ombudsman’s service.